Virgin Mary unearthed at construction site

Assisted living facility hopes to keep statue

While it may sound hackneyed, Executive Director Bill Marr said he truly feels a miracle has occurred at the Golden Pond Assisted Living facility, The MetroWest Daily News reported.

Last week, a nearly 4-foot statue of the Virgin Mary was unearthed while construction crews were working on a new addition.

“Everybody thinks it’s a message, that it’s going to be good luck for us,” Marr said.

Marr said it is a miracle that the statue is still intact and nearly unscathed after being dug up by an excavator shovel. The figure has only a small chip in her robe and a patch of moss on her forehead.

While taking a walk, a Golden Pond resident spotted the statue in a dirt pile.

“He came running in and said, ‘the Virgin Mary’s outside!’” said Marr.

The real mystery Marr is trying to figure out now is: where did the statue come from?

Marr believes the statue was purposefully buried decades ago. Golden Pond was built 21 years ago.

“The statue is concrete and from a mold, so I don’t think it’s too, too old,” Marr said.

Marr plans to reach out to the Hopkinton Historical Society after the busy holiday season to see if it can provide any insight.

“I do want to try and get a little history of where it came from,” Marr said. “Maybe see if there were any religious properties somewhere around here.”

Since it was discovered, the statue has found a new – temporary – home in Marr’s office.

“Everybody wants to see it,” Marr said. “Residents of all religious denominations, people who visit, people who work here.”

Marr is looking forward to moving the figure to a permanent home in Golden Pond’s chapel, once renovation work on the building is complete and after any restoration of the statue is performed.

“I’m not sure if we should touch it, but I’m going to leave that to someone else,” Marr said. He said he is going to ask the priest from St. John’s Parish when he’s in for his monthly visit how best to handle the statue.

“The fact that there has not been much excavation work done so far and this was found,” Marr said, “it’s kind of a sign that it was time to come back and have people share it in their lives.”

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